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Sony KDL-40Z4100 LCD HDTV |
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Home Theater Flat Panel HDTVs LCD HDTVs
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Written by Adrienne Maxwell
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Saturday, 01 November 2008 |
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Page 3 of 3
The Downside
As I mentioned in the set-up section, the KDL-40Z4100’s black level was
only average. With darker Blu-ray and DVD scenes, blacks tended to look
gray, especially when compared with my reference Samsung LED-based LCD
– which, admittedly, produces some of the best blacks you’re going to
find. (By the way, Sony just released its own line of LED-based LCDs,
but they do not offer one at the 40-inch screen size.) On a positive
note, the KDL-40Z4100 did a solid job of rendering fine black details,
and its overall black level was still good enough to produce a pleasing
image in a completely dark room. It just didn’t have that extra level
of depth and dimension that you see with the finest high-end panels.
The KDL-40Z4100’s viewing angle also fell in the average category –
better than many LCDs I’ve seen, but still not as good as a plasma
panel. It produced a watchable image at fairly wide angles, but black
levels will rise and color saturation will fall if you sit too far to
one side or the other.
The TV also exhibited some processing issues with TV content. Its
handling of video-based content isn’t as good as its film performance.
When watching a tennis match from the U.S. Open in 1080i, I saw jaggies
in the diagonals created by the court’s white boundary lines. Also,
during SportsCenter on ESPN HD (which was 720p), I noticed that the TV
again struggled with text crawls in the sports ticker that ran along
the bottom of the screen. Motion Enhancer sometimes slipped out of
sync with 480i movies on TV. In general, the Sony didn’t go as good a
job cleaning up lesser-quality SDTV signals as the best panels I’ve
reviewed.
Conclusion
Although the KDL-40Z4100 costs less than Sony’s XBR models, its
$2,199.99 asking price still puts it at the higher end of the price
spectrum for a 40-inch 1080p panel. However, this TV delivers the
goods in performance, connectivity and features. While its black level
could be better, it still offers a very attractive HD image and a
nice-looking SD image, with only minimal setup effort required. Sony
builds a lot of flexibility into its Motionflow 120Hz technology, which
is one of the better examples of the form. Overall, the KDL-40Z4100 is
a fine choice for someone who wants an excellent all-purpose display at
the 40-inch screen size.
| Manufacturer |
Sony
| | Model | KDL-40Z4100 LCD HDTV | | Reviewer |
Adrienne Maxwell
| | Diagonal Screen Size |
37 to 42-inches
| | # of HDMI Inputs |
4
| | # of Component Video Inputs |
2
| | HDMI Version |
1.3
| | Native Resolution |
1080p
| | Refresh Rate |
120Hz
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